'Tis the season for a good children's book

Friday

This Christmas, take a look at these mini-books with mini-price tags for the youngest children. Preschoolers and younger will delight in these five books that aren’t very large.

This Christmas, take a look at these mini-books with mini-price tags for the youngest children. Preschoolers and younger will delight in these five books that aren’t very large.

There’s no need to pause for reflection when reading “Santa Paws,” by Rachael Hale. The minute the cover is opened to reveal dogs and cats galore, laughter turns into good cheer in this board book.

The book (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $6.99) features perfectly chosen animal photo portraits with costumes of bright red and fir green. Puppies and kittens are decked out with wings to signal their angelic natures.

Dogs and cats smile into the camera, making readers smile with them. A Persian cat dresses up as Santa, while a black-and-white kitten echoes the black and white of a piano keyboard as he sits on it. And a dog takes on a moose’s antlers, looking dog-gone Nordic.

It is paws-itively filled with high spirits, spirits even Scrooge never envisioned.

The simple accompanying rhymes are toe-tapping, heel-clicking fun.

“Here Comes Santa,” created by David Pelham (Little Simon, $11.99) combines the whimsy of a multilayered pop-up scenario with the delicacy and attention to detail that comes with a book only 6 inches high.

While it doesn’t have quite the complexity of a full-sized piece of paper engineering, Pelham’s miniature scenes still are filled with enchantment.

Most of the pop-ups focus on one or two objects, done in angular forms. There is a wreath sporting silver bells, for example, and a snowy town done in midnight blue and purple.

The colors throughout are compelling and vivid, whether dusky or brilliant. It is a sensuous display that offers rewards with each viewing.

Its size allows it to fit in an adult’s hand, so it can be opened and spread out in all its richness for a child sitting in a lap. This book is meant to be shared, with adults and kids participating together, turning pages and exclaiming over surprises.

Layered and sculpted, “Santa’s Workshop” (Scholastic, $5.99) is a candy-colored feat of design.

It unfolds gradually, and illustrator P. Migliari is a mastermind at creating cardboard pages that are each a different shape and size.

First, the luscious Christmas tree folds back, revealing the front of a complex toy shop. Each ensuing picture is shaped creatively, making turning pages a treat.

By the time all the pages have been turned, reindeers are flying in front of a luminous moon. Elves lift their hands in farewell at the bottom of the page, and in the background a gently lit village makes the picture look cozy.

Lily Karr’s simple words are lively and quick, just like Saint Nick. A list of toys gives a good idea of what children around the world will be getting.

“Little Angel” by Sandra Magsamen (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $7.99) features a finger puppet that looks heavenly, attached to the cover by a slender cord and positioned to float above the words.

Designed more for very little girls, it carries the message that a child’s birth has angelic overtones. The loving words that run along with line-art pictures offer warmth and joy to both adult and youngster.

The narrator calls the pig-tailed angel of this board book “a precious shining star.” Little girls will thrill to see themselves epitomized in this simple list of reasons for being loved.

The puppet can be manipulated by an adult’s finger, sure to catch a youngster’s eyes with its sparkling silver wings and fluffy yarn hair. The accompanying blurb urges “Tickle, Giggle & Play,” an invitation adult and child will be glad to take.

“Merry Christmas, Ollie!” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $12.95), with art and words by Olivier Dunrea, is slightly reminiscent of Charlie Brown in its understatement and gentleness. Dunrea has a knack for sentiment combined with humor, so that gosling Ollie is both touching and laughable.

He stares at the sky, looking for Father Christmas Goose. Children will understand his anxiety.
The art is minimalist, suiting the small size of the format (9 inches square), and the even smaller size of the story’s eager baby geese.

Decked out in their stocking caps and colorful boots, the goslings peer all around, looking for the legendary Father Goose. They whisper that he “will bring lots of food.”

But Ollie is in no mood to conjecture. He wants Christmas “NOW!”

Children will be relieved when Father Christmas Goose flies overhead. Adults will smile at the last page’s present wrapped with a big red ribbon.

And as all little ones know, there’s nothing small about most of the presents that come at Christmas, especially the gifts that come wrapped in a book’s pages.

Lois Henderlong is a freelance writer for the State Journal-Register.

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